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Solar System
The Solar System is a Star System in the Sol's Umbra Region of the Human Domain. It is a system of one yellow main-sequence star, known in many human languages as 'Sol'. There are conventionally thought to be eight planets in this system, four of which are the rocky 'inner' planets and the remainder being gassy 'outer' planets, two of which are 'jovian' and the others 'neptunian', which refer to the composition of these planets' atmospheres as well as their mass. The largest planet by far is Jupiter. The smallest planet is Mercury. The system is unique in that it became home to not one, but two starfaring civilizations in its time: first the Desan whose Homeworld was Mars, and of course the current civilization, the humans from Earth. However, other races have had a minor presence in the system: the Ishamshuk, the Tarak, and possibly the Ancient Madapari. Name In the major starfaring human languages, the system goes by many names, though they are mostly fairly similar, all named after the star, Sol, hence the name 'Solar System' (Spanish: Sistema Solar). Exceptions in major languages include Chinese and Swahili. Aliens name the system differently. The Anquanti language of the Desan refers to it as Tayinkan Richu after the name of the Desan sun deity, Tayinkan (or commonly Tay for short). The Ishamshuk call it Oltala, or origin of the first ones. The Maghua language refers to it as Urutala'ame or the Earth guider. Inhabited worlds The system being a very large one, it has several planets that are, or were, inhabited. Mercury Mercury is the human name for the first planet, from an ancient mythological figure named 'Mercurius', who was messenger to the gods. The Desan never established a permanent presence on Mercury, but humans colonized it as a penal world. While there is a permanent population on Mercury, there are no permanent settlements, people instead are always on the move, trying to stay in the planet's most habitable temperature zone. Eventually, in Year 56 its status as a penal colony was revoked and the prisoners either relocated or pardoned. Many Mercurians (not to be confused with people from Mercuria) chose to stay behind and build new lives there. The population of Mercury has never exceeded 30,000, and today is around 4500, who subsist largely by mining. Venus Venus is the human name for the second planet, from an ancient goddess of love. The Desan saw colonization of Venus as prohibitively expensive, and humans agreed with them until Weyland sponsored a military-led project to colonize Venus in order to provide a training ground for specialist FFEL forces destined to fight on similar worlds against the Ishamshuk. The "settlements" here are mobile and float high above the surface, where pressures and temperatures are more tolerable. In the end, the concept of training entire divisions to fight in Venus-like conditions proved impractical, but the military culture of Venus is pervasive today and produces the well-known mercenary bands, the Venusian Retainers. Today there are far more Venusians and descendants thereof living outside of Venus than there are at home, the most at any one time being about 50000. Most Venusians today are subsistence farmers, relying on hydroponics and crops that thrive in the carbon-dioxide atmosphere of Venus (when the sulfur is kept at bay). Thermoacidophilic extremophile microbes, brought along with the first wave of colonists, have come to thrive in the planet's atmosphere, perhaps much more so than humans have, and their chemical byproducts are important to the livelihoods of Venusians. The economy is reliant on remittances from Venusians working abroad (usually as mercenaries), subsidies from the Human Domain, and a small tourism sector that has developed from visitors wishing to experience the unique lifestyle and conditions of Venus. Earth There are many names for Earth, human and otherwise. The Desan established colonies on Earth (in Anquanti, Leymka) in order to exploit its continental shelves for aquaculture. Areas most similar to Mars, such as Antarctica and the Atacama, saw the most extensive Desan presence. It is estimated that up to 150,000 Desan farmers lived and worked on Earth, to help the dying biosphere of Mars grow food to support its population. Some suggest that numerous species of plants commonplace in Earth's oceans and reefs today were possibly imported from Mars or at least adapted from local flora. While the Desan were aware of humans, the population bottleneck effect of the Toba eruption, compounded with the sparse human population (if any) in the regions Desan settled, made any contact sporadic and limited. That said, some speculate that a small number of humans befriended or (more likely) were enslaved by some Desan colonists and went to space with them. Finding conclusive physical evidence of this eluded scientists until the discovery of a 60,000 year-old human skeleton in the ruins of the Desan city of Eru-Judian on Iota Zulu in Year 230. The discovery was historically and politically significant, as it meant the Human Domain could argue for full membership in the Congress of Madapar. While many theories exist, it is uncertain what happened to the Desan settlers on Earth after the Siege of Mars. It is likely they were wiped out by the Tarak strike force, but some suggest they were evacuated to other Ocean Worlds in the Sixteen Kingdoms to help sustain the aquaculture sector. Humans, of course, eventually built their own starfaring civilization, about 5000 years after the invention of writing in some early societies. The Earth article describes this civilization in more detail, and the Stellar Empire in the Human Domain article. The Moon Earth's large moon was the first colony on a celestial object, established by the humans in the first quarter of the 21st Century, and Mars was soon to follow. In the Martians' time, the moon was a Defense Station, and the moon's tradition in this role continues to this day, with the Lunar Defense Battery and its 300 guns ready to shield itself, Earth, and, indeed, the system itself. Mars Mars is the human name for the fourth planet, from an ancient god of war. The Martians called it Oltala, and the Ishamshuk call it that too, in their honor. Thousands of years ago, Mars was the center of a Stellar Empire. This empires' influence on galactic history is so prominent that more aliens would recognize Mars than would recognize Earth, and it is a daily topic of galactic history classes and sessions between historians. The Martians took great pride in their empire, and were fiercely competitive, seeking to out-do the great empires of the galaxy that rose to prominence long before even they had. This gave the Martian Empire an influence of nearly 15,000 cubic light years, one of the largest ever created. It was, however, overstretched, and eventually met its downfall just as quickly as it had experienced its zenith. Human settlement came in droves during the second half of the 21st Century, motivated primarily by paranoia of situations on Earth, grants of land, and sheer curiosity. The Spiritual Revolution resulted in the first wave of refugees, the Colonial Crisis War resulted in the second, who built Mars' present-day capital: Meadow. Mars thus has earned the reputation of being a haven for those who want to escape their troubles on Earth while staying close to home. Quite a demotion from an imperial capital. Ceres A spherical asteroid, Ceres is a defensive outpost combined with a mining station. Its primary role is as a drop-off point for ore mined from other asteroids, for transfer to Mars and other planets. Ganymede Titan Triton History The first records of civilization in the Solar System arise from Martian records from around 103,000 years ago. These writings, however vague, from a primitive Mars were recovered and brought to restoration at Ichtalu's great library. Mars spent millenia in isolation and developed independently. Eventually, Mars had built a sprawling empire across the stars. Its vast empire was defended by increasing military strength and vast industrial potential. But Mars itself was dying. The Martians were experiencing climate change that was changing their way of life for the worst. As the years went on, more and more artificial intervention and manipulation of Mars' environment was required to continue living there. Despite these bad portents at home, Mars' empire was growing decadent and lazy. It began a painful, gradual decay and decline. The Martians were fully aware that they weren't what they used to be. Coffers and military overstretched, a string of brutal military defeats and an attempted coup put the final nail in the coffin. Mars' empire rapidly shrunk to the point that Mars itself was all that was left. The Martians who remained must've lived in a state of constant melancholy, and the dying state of their world was not helping. Nonetheless, they knew that their planet was next in line for the enemy's warpath, and looked to their defenses, mobilizing, for the last time, an army and fleet, to make a valiant last stand. They knew their empire and all they had worked for was long-dead, but they were going out with a bang. The resulting Siege of Mars was a huge event in galactic history, to the point that its conclusion starts a new era. Mars was completely totaled by orbital bombardment on a scale never before seen in military history. Powerful weapons carved Mars apart, and the remainder of the survivors cowered underground before a ground assault wiped them out.